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THE CITY OF BOSTON, 

SVJ.'X 4, 1832. 



BY ANDREW DUNLAP. 



BOSTON : 
TRCE AND GREENE, PRINTERS, WATER STREET. 

1832. 



ORATIOJV. 



Fellow Citizens, 

We are assembled according to the honored cus- 
tom of our country, to commemorate an event of the 
deepest interest to the friends of republican princi- 
ples. A glorious political experiment was commenc- 
ed on this continent, when the sages of the American 
Congress proclaimed to the astonished world, the 
Independence of these States of all European domi- 
nation, and that a Republican Government had arisen 
in the new world, to maintain the rights of man, 
which in the old world were crushed, under the ac- 
cumulated weight of the oppressions of ages. At 
this national jubilee, the aged citizens of the Repub- 
lic are cheered, by the recollection of the triumphs 
which they were witnesses and participators, and 



4 

among them yet remains to breathe his blessings upon 
his beloved country, one venerated man, — last sur- 
vivor of a sacred band, — awaiting the summons to lay 
down the mortal vestment of a lofty spirit, that will 
soon wing its flight, borne up to Heaven by the 
prayers and the praises of his countrymen. While 
the hearts of the young glow with emulation of the 
past, they cherish high anticipations of the future 
march of the nation, in the path of glory. The native 
citizen pours forth his thanks, that he was born on 
this soil renowned by the valor of freemen, and the 
grateful exultation of the emigrant, who has here 
found a sanctuary and a home, swells the tide of na- 
tional sentiment, which spreads from the Atlantic 
cities, to the most distant settlements in the shades 
of the majestic forests of the West. 

While we rejoice at our Independence, it should 
not now be our aim to excite violent indiscriminate 
animosities, against the people of that country, from 
which our forefathers parted, with the sorrow of the 
good and the wise, leaving forever the endeared 
scenes of their youth, and the sepulchres of their an- 
cestors. The rank offences of the British King and 
his Temporal and Spiritual Aristocracy, deserve all 
the reproaches which have been heaped upon them, 



and ill the United States their memories will be 
lioldcn in infinite contempt, to the latest generations. 
Every word in the Declaration of Independence, de- 
nouncing the injustice of the British Government, and 
the tyrannical measures adopted to enforce their usur- 
pations, is the imperishable language of truth. The 
sentence of the world inscribed on the tablet of histo- 
ry, has attainted their reputation, and all future ages 
will sanction the correctness of the judgment. But 
at this period, when the vindictive excitements of the 
struggle have subsided, truth and justice require, that 
a marked distinction should be made, between the 
Government that claimed the right, which none but 
absolute masters assert over slaves, to bind this coun- 
try " in all cases whatsoever" and the republican 
portion of the British people, who were themselves 
galled by the chain of arbitrary power. Perpetual 
rancorous hostilities against a whole nation, are the 
weeds of prejudice which spring up in the soil of cold 
hearts and contracted minds, for from the rising to the 
setting sun, his rays shine in every civilized country, 
upon gifted and high souled men devoted to freedom's 
cause, whose virtues and endowments honor the hu- 
man character, and deserve the love and respect of 
their republican brethren throughout the earth. 



That country on whose white cliffs our Pilgrim 
ancestors cast many a lingering look, as they bade it 
their solemn farewell, had for ages been famous in 
arts and in arms, and on the pages of its history are 
bright and enduring memorials of noble struggles, for 
the liberties of the people. It had preserved in the 
midst of the barbarous feudal despotism, which so 
long darkened Europe, a faint image of a free govern- 
ment, — a shadow which served to remind mankind, 
that the proud reality of a republican government had 
once existed. The Colonists transplanted to Ameri- 
ca, England's boasted Magna Charta, and those free 
principles of the British Constitution, the right of the 
people to a share in the Judicial and Legislative de- 
partments of government, by Juries and a represen- 
tation of the Commons. These redeeming principles 
were diffused throughout the Colonies. They were 
the good seed, that fell upon the good ground, and 
produced a glorious harvest, the Thirteen Republics 
of 1776, and the Twenty-four Republican States of 
1832, — the hope of freedom and the admiration of its 
friends. 

The colonists preserved the name, the language, 
and the laws of the parent country applicable to the 
condition of a people, in a great measure under the 



blessed necessity of rocnrring to original principles, 
in the establishment of their political institutions. 
Between the Republican party of Britain, and the 
Puritans, powerful sympathies existed. The leaders 
of that revolution, which reared on the ruins of the 
Throne the Nobility and the Hierarchy, a Common- 
wealth that commanded by its spirit and energy the 
respect of Europe, looked to New England as the 
City of Refuge, in the event of the failure of their 
efforts. At one period clouds and darkness gathered 
upon their prospects, and the ship which was to have 
borne Cromwell and his fortunes and his friends to 
the new world was unmoored. It was their destiny 
to be detained, to perform lofty parts on the theatre 
of European politics. Among the great actors of the 
drama were those, who had been deeply imbued with . 
the bold spirit of New England republicanism, and 
the ardent and eloquent Sir Henry Vane had been 
the Governor of Massachusetts. The friend of the 
towering genius of that revolution, like the Templar 
of the days of chivalry " half soldier and half priest," 
was a Minister of Salem, — that patriotic town whose 
inhabitants in the next century, at the time of the 
Boston Port Bill, indignantly spurned with the spirit 
of Hugh Peters, the offer of the British Government 



8 

to build up Salem, on the ruin of Boston, if they 
would renounce their republican principles, and for- 
sake their republican brethren of the Capital. 

After the Restoration of the Stuarts, some of 
the Judges, who condemned Charles the First, fled 
to Massachusetts. They were received by Governor 
Endicott and the inhabitants, with the respect, which 
their private virtues eminent piety and undaunted 
courage inspired, in the breasts of a daring and en- 
thusiastic people. A safe retreat from the pursuit of 
the Court, was here found for the distinguished ex- 
iles, — the victims of fatal mistakes in politics too 
often committed, — the re-establishment of an odious 
form of government overthrown by the valor of the 
people, and the restoration of an obnoxious Dynasty 
blasted by the fire of their indignation. 

Another Revolution soon became necessary to 
revolutionize the Restoration, and Massachusetts an- 
ticipated the work of reform, the other side of the 
Atlantic. Ere the glad shout of triumph, which rose 
to the skies at a nations deliverance, was borne to 
these shores, the democracy of Boston rose against 
the restored Stuarts, as the democracy of Paris late- 
ly rose against the restored Bourbons, and the minion 
of despotism, — the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, 



recoivcd in cliains tlic intcHii;;(!ncc, that this master 
had been driven by acclamation, from the Throne of 
his ancestors. 

When till! Biitisli CJovernment attempted to 
impose the burden of unconstitutional taxation upon 
the Colonies, the Republican party of Great Britain' 
espoused the justice of our opposition. The great 
commercial cities remonstrated against the measures 
to subjugate America, and a letter to Lord North from 
the Duke of Grafton retiring from the cabinet, con- 
tains the assertion, that " the inclinations of the 
majority of persons of respectuhility and property in 
England, differed in little else than words, from the 
declaralions of the Congress^ While Samuel Adams 
the leader of the democracy of the North — the Junius 
Brutus of our history, with a host of patriotic associ- 
ates in the popular assemblies and Legislative Halls, 
was rousing his countrymen to a vindication of their 
rights, the House of Peers was illumined with the 
eloquence of Chatham in the same cause, and the 
glowing declaration of the Prince of the British ora- 
tors, " I REJOICE THAT A.MERICA HAS RESISTED," 

reached the heart of every Whig in the land of our 
forefathers. The thunders of eloquence rolled in 
vain. The Monarch was sustained in his pride of 

9 



10 

power, by the Aristocracy of his khigdoni, and the 
counsels of the Whigs had no influence in a House of 
Commons, — a mere mockery of a representation of 
the people, where the current price of the rotten 
boroughs was at that day notoriously raised, by the 
ambition of wealthy slave dealers and opulent plun- 
derers of the East Indies, who had transmuted into 

gold, " THE GROANS OF AlRlCA AND THE Tt'ARS OF 

HlNDOSTAN." 

Is it not manifest, while we have abundant cause 
for the deepest detestation of the principles and con- 
duct of the Aristocratic party of Great Britain, that 
yve have also reason to cherish the strongest attach- 
ment to the Republican party of that Country, and 
to wish for the success of all their efforts to maintain 
their rights, — redress their wrongs, — and reform the 
abuses which press them to the earth ? According 
to the Declaration of Independence, we hold the 
British nation " enemies in war, — in peace friends." 
In two wars they have found us enemies, who could 
command their respect, both on the ocean and the 
land. In peace we hold them friends, and at this 
moment it is our earnest and friendly hope, that the 
freedom of the British Constitution may be restored, 
and the rights of the people respected, and justly 



11 

rcprosente.'I. TIio hrcczcs boar across the ocean the 
aspirations of our citizens, that justice may prevail 
over corruption, right over power, and that the Repub- 
licans of Great Britain may achieve as signal a tri- 
umph over the Aristocratic party, as the Republicans 
of Ainorira obtained over the same party, in the Rev- 
olutionary contest. Who drove with the scourge of 
persecution the Pilgrims over the rolling seas to a 
wilderness, covered with the snows of a northern 
winter ? Who turned the; deaf ear of the adder to 
the supplications and remonstrances of our revolution- 
ary fathers? Tiie Aristocratic party of Britain — 
always arrayed against the cause of liberty and re- 
form, and whose main pillars the Prelates, hold their 
titles and their princely revenues by means of the 
Reformation, and claim to be the representatives of 
the Christian Patriarchs, — the great reformers of a 
world. 

The purity of the character of the American 
Revolution, sheds lustre upon its ^history. It was a 
contest not of ambition, but of principle. Those who 
shone in the council, and gained laurels in the field 
were not pursuing the shadow of false glory. Their 
sole desire was to secure the freedom of their coun- 
try. They knew that the conflict would be arduous. 



12 

exhaust the resources, and shed the best blood of an 
infant people. With the courage of heroes, they 
united the mild virtues of philosophers and philan- 
thropists, and never appealed to arms, till the measure 
of injuries was full, — till all hope of redress vanish- 
ed, — and the only alternative left, was that before 
Brutus and the Romans, — to " live freemen" or " die 
slaves." If there ever were a people under the sun, 
who were armed in honesty, and could with sincerity 
appeal to Heaven, for the sublime purity of their mo- 
tives and purposes, it was the people of America 
bursting the ties, which had united the Colonists for 
more than a century with Great Britain. 

The world acknowledged the justice of our 
cause. France and Holland became our friends, and 
the Great Frederic of Prussia left on record in his 
Avorks, a condemnation of the wickedness and mad- 
ness of the British Government. After the loss of 
thirteen Provinces, a hundred thousand of the lives of 
his subjects, and a hundred millions of their treasure, 
the British Monarch M'as compelled to acknowledge 
American Independence. Many of the most inveter- 
ate enemies of America became convinced of their 
errors. Even the celebrated General Burgoyne re- 
canted his political heresies, and confessed in the 



13 

House of Commons, that " the principle of the Amer- 
ican war was wrongs Yet .his convert had been 
one of our most violent persecutors, lie had, (to use 
his own language) "thrown himself at his Majesty's 
feet," and solicited the honor of crushing those 
" wilful outcasts," — the American rebels, to whom 
he afterwards surrendered at Saratoga. It was this 
General who denounced upon our country, " devasta- 
tion, famine and every concomitant horror,'''' and threat- 
ened to let slip those " dogs of war" his savage 
auxiliaries, the employment of whom, the great friend 
of America called in vain upon the Lords Bishops to 
oppose with the " sanctity of their lawn," and whose 
merciless aid had been secured at a war feast, (where 
as an eminent English historian relates) the King's 
Minister Plenipotentiary to the " poor Indians," was 
invited to "banquet upon a Bostonian and to 
DRINK HIS BLOOD." The violators of our rights at 
length received the punishment of tlieir transgres- 
sions. It was the last wish of Lord Chatham, " that 
the vengeance of the nation might fall heavy upon 
the Ministry." It was the hope of Mr. Fox, that 
they might be sent into ignominious retirement, 
" with the curses of their country upon their heads." 
That wish was accomplished, — that hope was realized. 



14 

The maledictions of their country followed them, 
and the reprobation of posterity will forever rest upon 
their memories. Is it not a subject of the proudest 
reflection, that our country was right, as well as suc- 
cessful, and that the American Revolution as much 
deserves admiration, for the lustre of its political vir- 
tue, as the brilliancy of its military triumphs ? 

This is a great age, teeming with magnificent 
events, and adorned with illustrious men. It was 
observed by one of the most celebrated of the French 
Philosophers, that there had been four great ages, 
those of Alexander, — Caesar, — Mahomet the Second, 
— and Louis the Fourteenth. Far more splendid is 
the age, which has produced the American and French 
Revolutions, and given birth to Washington, — Jeffer- 
son, — Franklin, — the proscribed patriots Hancock and 
Adams, — La Fayette, — O'Connell, — the Liberator of 
South America, — the Hero of New Orleans, — and the 
Great Napoleon ! The Emperor of the French, whose 
career of glory was of about the same duration as that 
of Alexander, performed more wonderful actions in 
that short period, than are recorded of all the heroes 
of the other ages. A Lieutenant of Artillery becomes 
the victor of Italy, — the conqueror of Egypt, — the 
First Consul of the Republic, — the Imperial ruler of 



15 

France, — and the Dictatoi' of Continental Europe. 
On the burning sands of the desert, surrounded by the 
Mamelukes, he countersigns the chart(;r of protection 
to the Hermits of Mount Sinai, whicli had been sign- 
ed by the hand of Mahomet. In a few years he is iu 
the midst of tlie polar frosts, enconij)assed by the Cos- 
sacks, the master of the ancient Capital of Russia, 
and beholding from the Kremlin, the sublimity of the 
conflagration of Moscow. We look down upon the 
captive of Elba, and at the next moment, borne from 
Frejus to Paris in the arms of the people, he reascends 
in triumph the Imperial Throne, to which he was 
originally elevated by the suffrages of the French na- 
tion. His unrivalled military career is terminated by 
the banishment to which he was condemned, by the 
Despots of the Holy Alliance, who envied his great- 
ness, and dreaded his popularity. In the cruel agony 
of exile, he evinced more true grandeur of soul, than 
he had displayed even in his most brilliant days of 
prosperity, and on the sultry rock, where he was 
sent to perish,— rlike Wolsey, 

" He gave his honors to the world again, 

His blessed part to lieaven, and slept in peace." 

The confinement at St. Helena, of the Legislator of 
France, and the Great Captain of the Age, has stained 



16 

with indelible dishonor, the character of the Prince 
Regent, who in the nineteenth century refused an 
asylum to the Themistocles of Europe, throwing him- 
self upon his magnanimity, which even Xerxes, he- 
fore the light of Cliristiauity dawned upon the world, 
extended to his great enemy, — the master spirit of 
the Athenian Republic. 

We live in the age of Revolutions, and a Revo- 
lution is the fountain of our Independence. From 
the impulse and obligation of universal benevolence, 
which binds man to man, we rejoice at the sufccessful 
efforts of othernations to throw off their fetters. The 
struggles of the South American patriots, were ob- 
served at every period with intense solicitude, and 
the declaration of President Monroe, that any attempt'" 
to reestablish European domination, must be consid- 
ered an attack upon the foundation principles of our 
Independence, was approved by the feelings and 
judgment of the whole people. All the efforts of 
beautiful enlightened and brave France, to trample in 
the dust the chains of Bourbon despotism, have been 
hailed with enthusiasm. Our prayers ascended for 
Greece rising against her oppressors, that the spirit 
of the ancient Republics might revisit the classic land 
of the poets, the painters, the sculptors, the philoso- 



17 

phers, the historians, the orators, the statesmen, and 
the heroes, and animate their descendants, with the 
gallantry, with which their brave ancestors successful- 
ly resisted the Great King, and his million of barba- 
rian followers. Whose heart refused to beat with 
joy, when hope so long deferred was realized, and the 
Emerald Isle was liberated by the Catholic Bill, from 
the bondage of religious bigotry ? But when Poland 
fell, — when the vanguard of the liberties of Europe 
was trampled down and the standard of despotism 
planted on the ramparts of Warsaw, the shriek of 
freedom smote on all hearts throughout this widely 
extended republic. Let the work of political improve- 
ment go on, while an abuse remains to be reformed 
on the face of the globe ! May all the mounds erected 
by the political engineers, to stay the flood of liberal 
principles, be swept away by the torrent of knowl- 
edge, now rushing with constantly accumulating 
force I Heaven grant that the blessings of liberty 
may be extended, till man shall every where stand 
forth in all the glory of his nature, in the enjoyment 
of his unalienable rights, and under the protection of 
free institutions, favourable to the full developement 
of his virtues and talents, and the elevation of his 

character to the highest point of perfection ! 
3 



18 

Our Revolution was a political experiment, and 
principles were to be tested in the new world, which 
had been exploded in the old. The Republics of an- 
tiquity had crumbled to dust, and Greece and Rome 
were remembered, not for the glories of their free- 
dom, but the splendors of their literature. The dis- 
covery of Columbus opened a new field, — a vast con- 
tinent beyond the Atlantic, where the Republican 
banner might be once more unfurled. In a little 
more than a century from the day, when that greatest 
man of his time, with the loftiest emotions that ever 
filled a human breast, first "stood triumphant on 
another world," our ancestors laid the foundation of the 
proud edifice of our freedom, on the rock of Plymouth. 
While the Spaniards, under the successors of Cortez 
and Pizarro, sought the gold of Mexico and Peru, the 
Pilgrims sought the more precious treasures of civil 
and religious liberty. 

Important have been the consequences, of the 
experiment, commenced on the glorious day we cele- 
brate ! The example of the American Revolution 
has inspired all the efibrts in Europe, for the last 
half century, in favour of the rights of the people, and 
given an irresistible impulse to the liberal cause, — a 
cause destined to spread, till the whole earth shall be 



19 

cheored and the whole horizon iUuminod, hy the re- 
splendent light of freedom. North and South Amer- 
ica are now covered with republican governments, and 
in almost every region, from the fall of Niagara to 
Cape Horn, the name of King is as odious, as it was 
in Rome, from the expulsion of the Tarquins, to the 
overthrow of the Republic at the battle of Pharsalia. 
The Thirteen Colonies have risen to the stature 
of twentv-four flourishing Republican Stales, inhabit- 
ed by an intelligent population, a great majority of 
whom are united in political sentiment, and who 
changing the wild into a blooming garden, and culti- 
vating with ardour the arts of peace, are able to de- 
fend their country against the world in arms. We 
have no national debt, the mill stone which is sink- 
ing the British nation, in the depths of despair — no 
Established Church, " to take from the mouth of labor 
the bread it has earned," — no Patrician order to over- 
bear merit and insult the nobility of nature, — no laws 
but those made by the wisdom of the people, — no rulers 
but the nations choice, — no Sovereignty but the sove- 
reignty of the people. The present President of the 
United States, is a practical illustration of the genu- 
ine republicanism of our government and citizens, for 
he was elevated to his exalted station, solely by his 



20 

merit, public services, and sound political principles 
Yet this illustrious citizen called, by an overwhelming 
demonstration of the confidence and respect of his 
fellow citizens, from his plough, to the Chief Magis- 
tracy of the Republic, and elected to the first office 
in the world, was left at an early age an unprotected 
orphan, with no fortune but his talents, — no support 
but the energy of his own character, — no patronage 
but the friendship of a just and enlightened people. 
His election and administration are alike proofs, that 
the republicanism of this nation has grown with its 
growth, and strengthened with its strength. 

In the possession of our inestimable political 
blessings, we also hold a precious trust for the benefit 
of our posterity. How shall we discharge this trust 
with fidelity, and deserve the respect, with which 
we delight to honor our fathers ? Is it not by 
imitating their glorious example, cherishing their re- 
publican principles, and preserving strengthening and 
embellishing their republican institutions ? Those 
institutions form a wise structure of government. 
By the Constitution of the United States, the ener- 
gies of the State Governments, for the management 
of external and national affairs, are united in the 
Federal Government, which should be preserved as 



21 

it was established, in the spirit of compromise and 
mutual affection among those who had shared a com- 
mon danger, and gained a common triumph. To the 
State Governments chiefly belong the direction of the 
great mass of the powers of all governments, those 
which relate to affairs of an internal and domestic 
character, and all powers not expressly granted to the 
Government of the United States. By this structure 
the strength and stability of our institutions are not 
weakened, but increased, by the progress of our set- 
tlements, the extent of our empire, and the addition 
of new States, for each new State extends the bless- 
ings of a Republican Government to the most dis- 
tant regions, while it adds to the members of the 
American Confederacy, and strengthens the National 
Union. May the rights of the State Governments 
be preserved inviolate, the Government of the United 
States sustained by the patriotism of the people, in 
the faithful discharge of their Constitutional duties, 
and the political arch of our Umon ever remain as 
beautiful as that glorious arch, which spans the heav- 
ens, and as enduring as the firmament in which it is 
placed ! 



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